The first trailer has dropped for Ben Wheatley’s latest folk-horror In The Earth, which sees a trip in the woods go horribly wrong.
The crux of the film’s plot focuses on the journey of Dr Lowery and park scout Alma (Hayley Squires), as they venture into the haunted forest searching for a lost doctor. As they travel, the pair are slowly stalked and engulfed by the supernatural forces that lurk in the undergrowth, in what Bloody Disgusting called “a psychedelic trip” of horrific proportions. Chuck in the universally horrifying setting of a deadly pandemic and the malicious “spirit of the woods” which stalks visitors, and the trailer has shivers running down our spines by the bucket load.
The trailer for Ben Wheatley’s In the Earth comes with great expectations from those who have enjoyed his previous work. Wheatley has had past successes with the ‘folk horror’ genre, gaining cult acclaim for features such as 2011’s Kill List and 2013’s A Field in England. In the Earth seems to picks up where Wheatley’s best work left off: once again, we are transported into the depths of the English countryside, with a sage voiceover talking of the malevolent spirits at every turn.
In the film’s press notes Wheatley said: “I wanted to make a film that was contextualised in the moment … In that retrospect, I wanted to make something that would be immediate.” He continued: “I wanted to make something about the experience I was having right now. And I think that is what horror cinema should be. It takes the moment we are living in and puts it into a genre.”
In the Earth premiered at Sundance film festival in January, and will be released in UK cinemas on 18 June, 2021.
Words by George Walker
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